Margarita Robles

In March 2010, Margarita Robles, along with conservatives Fernando de Rosa Torner and Gemma Gallego Sánchez, were challenged as members by the judge of the National Court, Baltasar Garzón, who asked the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court to keep him in his position, for being the three CGPJ members that have shown the most animosity against him.[6]

On 25 June 2017, in an interview in La Sexta, Police Commissioner Villarejo accused her of commissioning a report against Garzón.[7]

With the appointment of Pedro Sánchez as Prime Minister of Spain, Robles was appointed by Sánchez a week later to assume the office of Minister of Defence thus vanishing the speculation that Robles could take over a "superministry" of Interior and Justice (as happened between 1994 and 1996 with minister Juan Alberto Belloch).[12][13]

At the beginning of her term as Defence Minister, Robles had to face some controversies like the prohibition to use tattoos in visible places that mainly affected womans (because of the use of skirt in the uniform),[14][15] the publication of a manifest by retired military officials in support of dictator Franco[16] and more controversies around the S-80 class submarine.[17]

Her department approved major defence projects like upgrading the budget of the S-80 submarines by € 1.8 billion,[18] and another billion for the modernization of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook of the Army which added to other military projects, in her first 3 months in office she approved investments worth 5 billion.[19]

Robles attends to the 2019 Pascua Militar at the Royal Palace.

On September 4, 2018, the Ministry of Defence announced that was studying to cancel a major contract with Saudi Arabia consisted in 400 laser-guided bombs because of the possible use of this weapons in the Yemeni War.[20] However, a few days later the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister itself confirmed that the contract would go ahead to avoid a possible diplomatic conflict with Saudi Arabia that could put at risk Navantia's 2 billion contract.[21]

In October of that year, when the assassination of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was discovered the international community rapidly reproached this event and some European countries like Germany cancelled its military contracts with Saudi Arabia and called for the rest of EU countries to do the same,[22] a petition that was ignored by those countries including Spain to protect thousands of jobs that the military contracts with this country generates.[23] A month later both countries created a joint venture to build five corvettes.[24]

On December 14, 2018, the Council of Ministers approved the military plan of Minister Robles to build five new F110 class frigates to replace the old Santa María class, 348 battle vehicles and upgrading the Eurofighter jet worth € 7.3 billion to be paid in the next 15 years.[25]

On January 30, 2019, she accompanied King Felipe VI on his trip to Iraq to mark the King's 51st birthday. They visited the contingent of more than 300 Spanish soldiers from the Besmayah "Gran Capitán" base.[26]

Robles addresses the Spanish citizens in a press conference due to COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, the Prime Minister designated her as one of the four delegated authorities in charge of direct management of the health crisis of COVID-19.[27] For this task, under her direction, Robles appointed the JEMAD, Miguel Ángel Villarroya Vilalta, as sole command of all the measures that his department carried out.[28]

During the health crisis, her department mainly deployed the Military Emergencies Unit (UME), which was responsible for the disinfection of thousands of retirement homes[29] as well as other public places such as train stations, ports and airports.[30][31] At the same time, different military, naval and air police units were also deployed to collaborate with the law enforcement agencies in public security tasks.[32]

At the end of March, Robles publicly denounced abandoned, and sometimes dead, elderly people in some of the retirement homes that the UME had disinfected.[33] The head of the Military Emergencies Unit, Luis Manuel Martínez Meijide, stated shortly after that these cases were "very punctual".[34]

On April 27, Robles addressed the Defense Committee of the Congress of Deputies to explain the management that his department was carrying out. Margarita Robles praised the task of the Armed Forces, to which she attributed all the successes, and assumed "exclusively" all the errors that would have been committed as her own.[35]

Due to her management in this crisis, the popularity of the minister soared, achieving an approval rating of close to 68%, the highest in a minister in decades.[36]

On November 27, 2019, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that because of the departure of Foreign Minister Borrell to the European Commission, Robles would temporary assume the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs until a new government is formed.[37][38] She assumed the office on November 30 and she left it on January 13, when Arancha González Laya assumed as new foreign minister.